Bio pellet reactors

[Mu8st7ang1]

I have a 90 gallon with a 30 gallon sump. Looking to possibly get a reactor. What is the good the bad and the ugly on them? What is the biggest benefit to running one? Thanks in advance
Don

 

[Gdemos]

I run the 500 model from reef dynamics on a 300g sps system with heavy bioload. Brought no3 down from steady 50ppm to stable 2-5ppm and po4 steady around .06

It took more than 6 months and a modification to the flow rate and a lot of second guessing but now stable and effective form of carbon dosing.

 

[Mu8st7ang1]

So this isn't a set and forget type of thing. If I do put this in I should be testing everyday?

 

[Gdemos]

There are things to look for to help other than testing. And the sensitivity of your livestock dictates, perhaps, how careful u need to be once the pellets kick in. If you have corals sensitive to nutrient levels than a rapid drop in levels can be harmful so yes testing is important as is with any form of carbon dosing or nutrient export for that matter.

First you have to get the flow and media churn figured out. Best for this is a recirculating reactor which allows you to alter effluent rate without impacting churn rate. Effluent being the flow out of the reactor and churn being the rate at which the media is tumbling. This is really like any media reactor you have to find the balance. Most pellets will want a moderate tumble.
Your bacteria needs to populate in the reactor and once established this acts to consume nitrates phosphates. This is really dumbed down so read up on the process. Then the effluent becomes your key adjustment.

While there is not a ton of bulletproof info on the subject you might find BRS tv a good start for info.

Once you get it up and running you can watch for signs of bacterial bloom to tell you it is working then test routinely to dial the reactor to the levels you want.

It is a media reactor so there is tuning in that is required. Further the media is a bacterial zone so there is a biological process to be aware of. But yes like any good reactor with good media and good oversight it can be 'set it and forget it'

I think you'll find a lot of bad press on biopellets and much of that Could be due to folks not understanding the process involved and giving up too soon or not knowing how to tune in. It took me a while but with some help and knowledge it proved effective. Also it seems many folks get the reactor when they don't necessarily need such a tool in their system to begin with.

 

[Mu8st7ang1]

That's what in trying to figure out if I need it or not. Thanks for all the info